Wolverine's Iconic Mask Was A Total Accident
It turns out that Wolverine's iconic mask was actually an accident. Back in the 1970s, Marvel Comics was attempting to reach new readers internationally. Editor-in-chief Roy Thomas believed the key was to have international superheroes — and he came up with the idea of a character named Wolverine. As Thomas explained in an interview with Inverse, "I didn’t know he was a mutant, he was just a character that I knew was Canadian. I chose the name 'Wolverine' because I was obsessed with animals as a kid and I knew wolverines were from Canada. I mean, I couldn’t call him 'Moose' because that wouldn't sound good. I thought about 'Badger' but badger also meant 'to annoy,' so I didn’t like that."
Wolverine was designed by celebrated comic book artist John Romita, and he was the one who gave Wolverine his three distinctive claws. He originally envisioned these claws as weapons in Wolverine's gloves, and it wasn't until years later that other creators would come up with the idea of having them pop out of his hands. What's more, this original Wolverine debuted with a strikingly different, cat-like mask — an odd detail that may have crept in because Romita didn't really know what a wolverine was in the first place when he was creating the costume. Wolverine made his debut in The Incredible Hulk #181, and the outfit he wore there would become pretty much definitive — except for the mask. When Wolverine next appeared, in 1975's Giant-Size X-Men #1, he'd be sporting a very different mask.
Related: A New Rogue Wolverine Has Been Unleashed in Marvel's Universe
The change in mask was actually a happy accident. Artist Gil Kane was commissioned to draw the cover of Giant-Size X-Men #1, and he made a mistake, giving Wolverine's mask longer
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